To speed the process, Grassley has abandoned the “blue slip” process whereby a Senator from a nominee’s state may block an appointment. The Judiciary Committee’s ranking member, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, strongly opposed thismove in the case of Seventh Circuit nominee Michael Brennan, which is being pushed forward over the objection of his home-state senatorTammy Baldwin. Feinstein has noted that if Brennan is confirmed it would be the first time in more than 30 years that a circuit court nominee was confirmed over a home-state senator’s objections. Meanwhile, there are reports that a hearing will be held Wednesday for Ninth Circuit (which includes California) nominee, Ryan Bounds of Oregon, for whom neither Oregon senator has returned a blue slip signaling approval for the process to advance. No circuit court nominee has ever been confirmed over objections of both home-state senators. This is an affront to the traditional role of Senators to provide “advice and consent.” Even in this era in which rules and norms are broken daily in the Senate and at the White House, no federal judicial nominee has ever been granted a committee hearing when both home-state senators have withheld their blue slips.

Call Senator Feinstein to give her a thumbs up for being on the right side of justice and ask her to keep fighting for us. Say something like:

Share this:

Related

Spread the word. Share this post!

2018 Meeting Schedule

The Democratic Alliance for Action membership meets on the 4th Thursday of every month from January - October and usually once in early December. Membership meetings usually start at 7:00 p.m. Steering Committee meetings are generally on the 2nd Thursday of the month and start at 6:30 p.m.